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"The federal government is hitting the gas on incentive programs meant to prop up the electric car market, raising questions about whether it's appropriate for Washington to continue subsidizing an industry it's already invested in heavily."
But let's forget money for a minute, I wanted to see how long it would take me to do one of my annual vacation driving trips in an electric car.
It's a 14 hour drive and 819 miles (per Mapquest) without counting 15 minute gas and rest stop breaks (they aren't in the same place on most of the trip). Normally, I break it into a 2 day trip since I'm the sole driver. One way trip I might stop 6 times on the road not counting the one overnight.
"The Nissan LEAF, for instance, takes six to eight hours to charge and has a range of about 100 miles."
This means on an 819 mile driving trip, not counting the initial charge, I would have to stop for a charge 8x to get to my destination in a Leaf. At 6 - 8 hours to charge (I'll use 7 hours), that's about a 14 hr normal drive (includes pit stops) plus 56 hours to charge my imaginary Leaf to get to my destination making my normal 2 day trip a 70 hour trip. Then, I would have to waste another 70 hours to get home. Now, I'm retired but what working person has 140 hours to spare just getting to and from a vacation destination? The time of 70 hours means I'd have to pay for more overnights in places, too.
But forget about me for a minute, a 150 mile round trip daytrip is no big deal now, right? I mean, everybody does a 75 mile day trip to a destination more frequently than a longer annual trip. How much time could you spend at your day trip destination if you had to include a 7 hour charge? Let's say you left your car at the charging station while you visited with a relative. How do you get back and forth to the charging station?
And I didn't touch on cost. Didn't Obama say under his plan of cap and trade, electricty costs would necessarily skyrocket?
"If the local utility company has its way, drivers will get a deal -- a $25 flat fee for six months of unlimited charging. The idea is to serve electric car owners, while making prospective buyers comfortable with the technology, potentially inspiring them to buy an electric vehicle of their own."
Does this not remind you of the Internet deal you got when you fist signed up for it?
Also, I have to use those crappy energy saving light bulbs while you are hooked up to a charger for 7 hours at a pop?
The article, by the way, is really about taxpayers throwing away their money by subsidizing something that the government is pushing out too early.
I will wait until - prices are dropped on cars, charging stations exist like regular gas stations, mileage capabiliittes are at least 500 miles.....oops, guess that means i will be in my sports car that uses gas for the rest of my life....
Anyone remember the first portable PCs. We used to refer to them - jokingly - as sewing machines because they were about the same size but heavier. They weren't portable but luggable. And yet, 20 years on ................
I also remember the first digital cameras ... the type you would push a diskette into. People said they would never catch on. They were too bulky and the quality wasn't great.
Are electric cars too early? I don't know that any of us can say that with any certainty.
This is not a waste of money... it's a push to stop our dependency on foreign oil that props up dictators in the Middle East and fuels terrorism... the result of which is two current wars, explosive unrest in the Middle East and the ostracization of Israel. if you don't think that's worth investing in, what is? Give me a break.
Remove all federal gas tax and regulations on gas.. and lets see if we move to electric cars. They cant even keep our highways from failing apart and they want to spend money on electric cars. Let alone spend that money on foreign aid and building bridges from the ones we blew up in IRAQ.
This is not a waste of money... it's a push to stop our dependency on foreign oil that props up dictators in the Middle East and fuels terrorism... the result of which is two current wars, explosive unrest in the Middle East and the ostracization of Israel. if you don't think that's worth investing in, what is? Give me a break.
Well it's not for the federal government to decide in the first place but...
Lifitng restrictions on drilling permits and refinieres would accomplish this task and not contribute to the debt crisis.
Your argunent is seriously flawed.
Well it's not for the federal government to decide in the first place but...
Lifitng restrictions on drilling permits and refinieres would accomplish this task and not contribute to the debt crisis.
Your argunent is seriously flawed.
It's not in the interest of the federal government to promote policies that will lead to a more stable foreign policy and also help to reverse global warming? What brand of political philosophy are you espousing? And, no, lifting restrictions on drilling, offshore or elsewhere, will in no way accomplish the task of ridding the dependency on foreign oil... and it of course does nothing to address global warming.
And the debt crisis is not being fueled by incentives on electric cars... it's being fueled by the Big 4 programs... hopefully Obama's challenge to Congress to deal with the Big 4 will yield positive reforms in the coming months.
Electric cars are not intended for cross country vacations. Buick Roadmaster wagons are. I will look at electric cars in a few years for driving to the park & ride and back or, if I am no longer commuting, for local driving. For longer trips hybrids make more sense.
In any case this is a legitimate area for government support because it will eventually cut our oil imports. This is why we barely support the development of these cars. The oil industry owns our government and hates to see their monopoly threatened.
PS at least the tax money is being wasted here instead of rag head land.
"The federal government is hitting the gas on incentive programs meant to prop up the electric car market, raising questions about whether it's appropriate for Washington to continue subsidizing an industry it's already invested in heavily."
But let's forget money for a minute, I wanted to see how long it would take me to do one of my annual vacation driving trips in an electric car.
It's a 14 hour drive and 819 miles (per Mapquest) without counting 15 minute gas and rest stop breaks (they aren't in the same place on most of the trip). Normally, I break it into a 2 day trip since I'm the sole driver. One way trip I might stop 6 times on the road not counting the one overnight.
"The Nissan LEAF, for instance, takes six to eight hours to charge and has a range of about 100 miles."
This means on an 819 mile driving trip, not counting the initial charge, I would have to stop for a charge 8x to get to my destination in a Leaf. At 6 - 8 hours to charge (I'll use 7 hours), that's about a 14 hr normal drive (includes pit stops) plus 56 hours to charge my imaginary Leaf to get to my destination making my normal 2 day trip a 70 hour trip. Then, I would have to waste another 70 hours to get home. Now, I'm retired but what working person has 140 hours to spare just getting to and from a vacation destination? The time of 70 hours means I'd have to pay for more overnights in places, too.
But forget about me for a minute, a 150 mile round trip daytrip is no big deal now, right? I mean, everybody does a 75 mile day trip to a destination more frequently than a longer annual trip. How much time could you spend at your day trip destination if you had to include a 7 hour charge? Let's say you left your car at the charging station while you visited with a relative. How do you get back and forth to the charging station?
And I didn't touch on cost. Didn't Obama say under his plan of cap and trade, electricty costs would necessarily skyrocket?
"If the local utility company has its way, drivers will get a deal -- a $25 flat fee for six months of unlimited charging. The idea is to serve electric car owners, while making prospective buyers comfortable with the technology, potentially inspiring them to buy an electric vehicle of their own."
Does this not remind you of the Internet deal you got when you fist signed up for it?
Also, I have to use those crappy energy saving light bulbs while you are hooked up to a charger for 7 hours at a pop?
The article, by the way, is really about taxpayers throwing away their money by subsidizing something that the government is pushing out too early.
Oil is over 100.00 a barrel right now, Saudi reserves are as much as 40% overstated, world oil production had stayed flat since 2006 (http://www.eia.doe.gov/aer/txt/ptb1105.html) despite huge increases in world demand and you are saying it's too early?!
It's true that electric cars are inadequate to replace gasoline powered cars, (the current electric grid couldn't even support it) but there is no other choice. There are no other semi-practical long-term alternatives. Oil is a finite resource and we are running low...we are at the tipping point and our civilization will either rise or fall depending on how we weather the fallout. The next 20 years are gonna be VERY interesting.
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